Days of Future Past
by ChickWithThePurpleGuitar
Summary: Sequel to Stay. The goddess of youth promised Nico a childhood, but he didn't expect her to go to such extremes. When he wakes up in an alternate universe without the gods, he's not sure if it's better or worse than the world he left behind. Part four of False Death and True Life series.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I WROTE ANOTHER ONE! BECAUSE I HAVE PROBLEMS! Hi guys! Here's the sequel to Stay, the fourth installment in my little series that seriously needs a name (if you have any suggestions, please give). You'll be happy to know that, unlike the other three, this one's actually a multi-chap, meaning no more confusing cliffhangers! Yay! Here's chapter one. I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you guys like reading it :D**

**By the way, the title of this fic came from Xmen: Days of Future Past because I was just reminded of it while writing and I was too lazy to think of a better title.**

**Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Chapter One

Hebe had warned him that it might be different than what he thought, but he didn't expect to dream.

The process itself felt like nothing once Hebe had set the whole thing up, just like falling asleep after a long day, where he was unconscious almost immediately.

And the dream was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. It wasn't a demigod dream, where he felt like he was really there, like he knew everything around him was actually happening. And it wasn't like what he'd heard human dreams were, where everything was surreal and impossible, and it felt like it was really happening, up until you woke up.

This dream wasn't like that. This dream was just memories.

Nico dreamt of monster fights, of accidental shadow travel trips to foreign countries, of his cousin, and his sister, and his friends. He dreamt of Hazel, and his fake funeral. Of all the mistakes he'd made, and of all the people he'd saved. He remembered a dream he'd had before, of a monster in a junkyard, of a stolen plan gone wrong. He saw a body, broken and bloody, lost among the wreckage, and just as his mind was closing in on Bianca's face-

He woke up in a cold sweat, in an unfamiliar bed, with a hand on his arm. Pale light filtered in from an open doorway, illuminating what looked like a standard New York apartment bedroom. Out of pure instinct, Nico jolted back and reached for a sword that wasn't there. His heart raced as he came to the realization that he was being attacked and he didn't have a weapon. However, about halfway through trying to get out of the bed and getting tangled up in the sheets in the process, Nico's brain slowed down and actually realized who it was next to him.

"Percy?" Nico gasped in surprise, breathing heavily as he tried to calm down.

His cousin, dressed in nothing but gray sweatpants and a pair of dark-rimmed Hipster glasses, knelt on the bed next to Nico, his hand still reaching out from when Nico had shoved it away. Percy's hair was cut shorter and less wild than Nico was used to, and his eyes were an even deeper green behind lenses. He frowned in concern at his younger cousin, making Nico's heart flutter annoyingly.

"Are you all right?" Percy asked softly, removing his outreached hand to run his fingers through his hair. "Sounds like you were having a pretty bad nightmare."

Nico stared at him in shock, trying to process what was happening. Percy Jackson, for whatever reason, was shirtless, in bed with him, acting like nightmares were even a _thing_ to demigods. Nico tried to see through the Mist to see if this was a monster impersonating his cousin, but the veil refused to pull back. He could only see what was in front of him.

"Uh, y-yeah," he stammered, deciding to play along until he could figure out what the Hades was going on. "I was- I just- Bianca…"

"One of those, huh?" Percy asked sympathetically, giving Nico a small smile. "Well, don't worry. You're okay now. She's safe."

Nico wouldn't exactly call reincarnated so that he could never see her again "safe," but he understood the point Percy was trying to make. "Right," he muttered, nodding slowly. "Thanks, Perce."

Percy smirked and reached forward to ruffle Nico's hair. "No problem, kid. Now get some sleep, you've got school tomorrow."

As Percy stood up from the bed, Nico stared at him, trying to process his words. _School?! _Seriously, _what_ was going on? What crazy, messed up universe could he have been sent to? Wherever he was, he went to school, he shared a bedroom with Percy Jackson, and his cousin wore _glasses_, for the gods' sakes! How could any of this ever make any sense?!

And that was when he realized just what was going on. Hebe had been trying to give him a childhood. Demigods didn't have childhoods.

Meaning… he wasn't a demigod anymore.

"Percy," he said quickly, praying to the gods that he was wrong.

His cousin turned around from where he'd been about to get into the other twin bed across the room. He'd taken his glasses off, making him look much more like the son of Poseidon Nico was used to, but he had to squint to see Nico from far away. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Your dad," Nico said, swallowing nervously. "What's his first name?"

Percy frowned in confusion. "Paul…" he said slowly. "Why?"

"And," Nico continued hesitantly. "And he's your… your _real_ dad, right? He's not… I don't know, your stepdad or anything?"

"No…" Percy said, sounding worried. "No, he's my real dad. Why do you ask?"

Nico's breath turned shallow, his heart pounding, and he felt dizzy as his fears were confirmed. "N-no reason," he managed to say for Percy's sake. "Sorry. Goodnight."

He slowly lay back down in the bed and turned away from Percy, shaking slightly from the enormity of the situation.

Whatever the goddess had done… he was human now. His friends were human.

His whole world had changed in the blink of an eye.

* * *

Nico didn't sleep a wink that night. His mind was too active as it ran through all the possibilities of this new universe. It was terrifying to think about, a world without gods. He didn't know how to react.

Around three a.m. (at least his internal clock hadn't stopped working), Nico gave up on trying to sleep and climbed out of bed, careful not to wake Percy (although from the way his cousin was snoring, Nico doubted anything short of a hurricane would wake him up). Almost immediately, he stumbled back in shock and horror as he realized that, though he was wearing his usual skull-decorated black t-shirt, _he wasn't wearing any pants._

Nico took a deep breath to calm down, then rifled through the dresser next to the bed (which he assumed was his) until he found a pair of dark jeans that would fit him. Once he was dressed, he looked around the bedroom, trying to find what he knew was there somewhere.

He was a human teenager. There was no way in Hades he didn't have a cell phone.

It wasn't long before Nico found the black smartphone in the top drawer of his nightstand. He pulled it out and slipped it into his back pocket, then left the bedroom, determined to get some answers.

If he was going to get through this, he had to trust _someone_ with the truth. And he knew just who to trust.

Luckily for Nico, his phone didn't have a password, so he easily unlocked the device and opened his contacts. He started to scroll through them, but quickly got bored of seeing the names of people he didn't know (Aiden, Alexander, Amelia, Andrew, etc, etc, etc), and clicked the tiny H on the right side of the screen to skip down the list. Hazel's number was the first one there.

Nico had to call three times before Hazel actually picked up the phone. It was unreal how paranoid it made him to be using a cell phone three times in a row, but- as expected- no monsters attacked. He was safe.

"Nico?" his sister murmured sleepily when she finally answered the phone. "What's wrong?"

"I need your help," he said softly, just in case sound from the hallway carried into the bedroom. "I don't know what's going on, and you're the only one I can trust, so-"

Hazel groaned. "Nico, it's three in the morning. Call Bianca."

The line went dead.

Nico stood there frozen for a minute or two, staring into space and running Hazel's words through his head. There was no way… She couldn't… Right?

Swallowing nervously, Nico lowered the phone from his ear and looked back at his contacts. Third down in the B section, in between Barbara and Brittany (seriously, who were these people?) was the name Bianca.

Nico hesitated to call the number. What if it wasn't his sister? What if she'd died even earlier in this universe, and this was his childhood best friend or something who he'd befriended solely because she had the same name as his dead sister?

Before he could change his mind, he called Bianca.

The call almost immediately went to voicemail, since it was three in the morning and Bianca's phone probably wasn't on, but the custom voicemail message that played was all Nico needed.

"Hi, you've reached Bianca di Angelo at 646-555-3112. I can't take your call at the moment, so please leave a short message with your name and number, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a nice day! Oh, and if this is Nico, _go to sleep._"

Nico's heart skipped a beat when she said his name (apparently he did this 'call her in the middle of the night' thing a lot) but it was the confirmation he'd wanted.

His sister was alive.

* * *

An alarm went off no more than three hours later, and Nico snapped back into consciousness. He didn't remember falling asleep- his last memory was coming back to the bedroom and turning his phone off (just in case the signal could still attract monsters), then getting into bed to do some thinking.

Apparently, no thinking had gotten done.

The alarm stopped beeping as Percy got up, tossing a pillow at Nico's head as he passed on his way to the bathroom. "Time to get up, squirt," he called, not seeing that Nico had caught the pillow and was currently staring at his cousin in indignant surprise. "Your ride's here in twenty."

Nico sighed and sat up, pulling back the bed sheets to reveal he'd slept in his jeans. Not bothering to care, he climbed out of the bed and opened his dresser drawers, changing his shirt into a different black one, advertising a band he'd never heard of. He turned his phone back on and slipped it into his back pocket, then searched the closet until (thank the nonexistent gods) he found his aviator's jacket.

Shortly after he finished getting dressed, Percy came out of the bathroom wearing his glasses, with a toothbrush stuck in his mouth. (He still wasn't wearing a shirt. Nico tried not to stare at his chest.)

"Hey," Percy started to say, his voice muffled by the toothbrush, before noticing that Nico was pulling on his combat boots. "Oh. You're up. That was fast- I thought I was gonna have to bring out the water bucket this time."

Nico frowned up at his cousin. "Huh?"

Percy shook his head. "Never mind." He leaned back into the bathroom to spit into the sink and replace his toothbrush, then stepped into the bedroom, drying his face on a towel. "Hey, did you call Hazel last night? She texted me telling me to give you sleeping pills. Which, by the way, I'm not doing ever again."

_Again_? Nico dared to wonder. "Uh, yeah, I must've been sleepwalking," he lied.

Percy shrugged. "Okay. Anyway, since you're up, you want some breakfast? I got PopTarts."

Nico crinkled his nose. "Uh, no, I think I'm good."

"You sure?" Percy asked. "They're s'mores flavored."

"Really," Nico insisted. "I'm good."

His cousin shrugged. "Whatever. More for me." He winked at Nico, then left the room, heading towards the kitchen Nico had seen last night.

Nico finished zipping up his boots, then pulled out his phone, planning to figure out all he could about this new universe.

First, he checked his contacts. Among all the people he didn't know, he found the numbers of each of the Seven, plus Thalia, Grover, Reyna, and even Rachel Elizabeth Dare. It was reassuring to know that all the people he cared about in real life had carried over into this world, so he wouldn't have to go searching for them later on.

Next, he checked his calendar, just in case his human self had been nice enough to write out his entire schedule for Nico to memorize.

Turns out Human Nico was extremely OCD, because not only was his schedule there, but it was color coded.

According to his phone, it was a Tuesday, which meant he not only had school (with double math- who invented this torture?) but apparently had to work at "Seis's Garage" from 4-6. Then he was supposed to have dinner with Percy's parents (apparently that happened every night, though, so Nico wasn't sure why he even bothered to put it on the schedule every day, but it was helpful, so he didn't complain).

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang, so Nico put his phone away and joined Percy in the front hallway to see who it was.

"If you're a robber, I'm unarmed!" Percy called as he opened the door.

"You do know you'd totally be robbed right now if I were actually a robber, right?"

Nico's heart stopped at the sound of Bianca's voice. She was standing just outside the apartment door, wearing skinny jeans, a purple top under a brown leather jacket, and red Converses. She wasn't wearing the floppy green cap Nico was used to, but she'd cut her bangs so that they hung over one eye. She had a colorful messenger bag over her shoulder, and was wearing a diamond-stud nose ring and matching earrings. She looked nothing like the Bianca Nico remembered (not to mention she was four years older) but all in all, she was still his sister.

"I know, that's why I say it," Percy joked, grinning as Bianca rolled her eyes and stepped inside the apartment.

"Percy Jackson, I don't know _how_ you got into college," she said as he closed the door.

"Well that depends on what you mean by 'got in'," Percy returned.

Bianca laughed (Nico's heart beat erratically), then turned to her brother and ruffled his hair with a smirk. "Morning, squirt!"

Nico leaped forward and wrapped his arms around his sister, hugging her tightly as he fought back tears.

"Hey," Bianca laughed, stepping back so she could look at Nico's face. "What's this? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Nico managed. "I just… I love you."

Bianca frowned at him in concern, then glanced at Percy, who was eating a PopTart. He shrugged. "He's been acting weird all day," he told Bianca. "Nightmares."

She nodded and turned back to Nico, smoothing back his hair as he buried his face in her shoulder. "Is that why you called me last night? You couldn't sleep?"

Nico looked up at her. "Yeah. I mean, no, I was fine, I just… I wanted to tell you that I love you."

Bianca raised an eyebrow. "And that couldn't wait till morning?"

Nico shook his head, then continued hugging her.

His sister laughed and forcibly pushed him off of her. "Okay, well, I love you too, but we gotta go. Zoë'll kill me if I don't meet her on time today."

Zoë Nightshade was alive too? Did _anyone_ die in this universe?

Nico nodded and grabbed the black backpack sitting by the door (he assumed it was his, and no one told him otherwise).

"Hey, I'll pick you up after work," Percy told him as he licked chocolate off his fingers. "Mom's making meatloaf, so eat at the garage."

Nico nodded. "Okay. See ya."

Bianca led the way into the hallway, and Nico followed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked him as they descended the stairs. "I don't think you've told me you loved me since Mom died."

Nico's heart sank slightly (he should've assumed he was still motherless, but he hadn't wanted to), but he shrugged. "Well, I realized I should tell you more often. Besides, I really missed you. S-since yesterday, I mean," he hastily added when Bianca gave him an odd look.

His sister rolled her eyes and reached over to ruffle his hair again. "All right, squirt. Whatever makes you happy."

They exited the building and made their way to Bianca's car, a blue Volkswagen Beetle.

Bianca drove with one hand, and didn't object when Nico held her other one.

He could get used to this.

**A/N: Yay sibling feels! I hope you liked the chapter. Please review and tell me what you think, and I'll try to update soon! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: GUYS, READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTES. Literally multiple people in their reviews asked questions that I already answered in the last chapter's author's notes. It made me kinda sad. Like, come on guys. My author's notes are fun. They're not too long or boring. I ask trivia questions sometimes. **

**Anyway, to reanswer the previously answered questions, I will respond to reviews below:**

**Lizzyluvsmusic13: Thanks for being my first reviewer for this fic! I get really happy when I tell my friends to go R&R my new fics, and then I get reviews not from them :D So anyway, yeah, I'm really glad you like this fic J Sorry it's hard to imagine Hipster Percy, a friend of mine actually drew a pic of him so hopefully I can give you readers access to that soon. Also, it's okay that you don't have an account, because I care about reviews more than favs/follows (I like words :D) so all that matters is that you reviewed :D So yay! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!**

**Fabulous: Wow, your compliments were really sophisticated-sounding. Thanks :D :D I'm glad you liked the fic, and thanks for reviewing!**

**Mani-Pedi Girlie: Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing :D**

**How wonderful: One-series. I think it's so cool that that's a weird. But FEAR NOT, YOUNG READER (no idea how old you are), for this isn't actually a one-series! _As I stated in my author's note for the last chapter_ (*fake angry glare*), this fic is a multi-chap because I love it and it gives me feels and I don't think I can ever end it so yeah. Thanks for reviewing :D**

**Elements1999: You also didn't read my author's note (*shameful finger-scrape thingy that people do sometimes*) As I said before, the only reason this fic is named after a Xmen movie is cause I was reminded of it while writing. The time-travel thing Kitty does to Logan, where she keeps his body in one place and moves his mind, is pretty much what Hebe did to Nico, so I had Days of Future Past as my working title on the google doc, and then I was too lazy to change it. So yeah, that's why. Not a mutant AU. I don't think I could do that without it sucking. Although now I kinda want to try… Anyway, glad you liked it :D Thanks for reviewing!**

**ThePercyJacksonOracle: Lol when I read your review I was like "Tyson… and Silena… and Beckendorf…and Luke…shoot, I have to make these people characters, don't I?" so yeah, thanks for reminding me that not all the dead people in this series died in Titan's Curse :D I don't yet have plans for Charlie and Silena, nor for Tyson or Luke, but I'll do my best to add them in in later chapters. As for the maidens, I have an idea for the Hunters, but I'm not sure yet about Rachel, we'll have to see how her character plays out. AND OF COURSE THERE'S PERCABETH! The only time there isn't Percabeth is when the fic is specifically Prachel or two-sided Percico. Which this one is not. So yeah. ALL OF THE PERCABETH FEELS. MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Anyway :D Thanks for reviewing!**

**Smart Girl: I don't even know why I respond to your reviews anymore… Eh. Shrug.**

**Cherriomax: LITERALLY YOUR REVIEW IS MY LIFE. I wish so hard that Bianca hadn't died except I feel like if Rick Riordan had continued writing Bianca, she wouldn't be as wonderful. Plus then AUs like this wouldn't be nearly as meaningful. So in a way, I'm glad she no alive all the time. Thanks for reviewing :D**

**Ibuki Mioda: I'm so glad you love it :D :D Thanks for reviewing!**

**Countingmoons: My computer doesn't like your name as one word. I'm glad you like the fic :D Mortal Bianca and Glasses!Percy just make me really happy for some reason… Anyway, thanks for reviewing :D :D :D**

**H. : Ikr? Happy Nico is the saddest Nico. It's not okay! Anyway, glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing :D **

**Eleven reviews for the first chapter! That makes me happy! NUMBERS MAKE ME HAPPY :D :D :D :D :D**

**Anyway, point to Author's Note now (wow this thing's already a page long… no wonder you guys don't read them…) Here's the next chapter. I'm planning on introducing some more characters into the AU (I don't actually know how well that'll work out cause I'm writing the A/N before the chapter and I'm writing them both at 2:30 in the morning (so if incoherence happens that's why)) but hopefully, some more characters will show up. Namely: Leo (YAY!), Hazel (YAY!), Annabeth (MORE YAYS!) and a technically (but not actually) original character, Nico's employer Seis (ALL OF THE YAYS! Heh heh. I have plans for him… they don't even warrant an evil laugh because I give them away in his first scene, but still, I'm evil laughing on the inside).**

**So yeah. Chapter two. Enjoy. And please review :D :D**

**Disclaimer: I own none of the things. Unfortunately. Because these characters make me really happy.**

**Also WARNING: This got just_ slightly_ more T-rated than I expected it to (I know the fic's rated T, but most of it's really gonna be K+ so I feel the need to put these things here) because Leo was being Leo, so just, you know. If you're sensitive, read with caution.**

* * *

Chapter Two

Nico hadn't gone to school since he was ten, and apparently things had changed a bit in those short four years.

Sometime after the Battle of Manhattan, when Nico had spent a week and a half living on Percy's couch because he had nothing better to do with his life, Percy's mother had tried to convince Nico to go back to school, now that the world had been saved.

Little did she know that the world would again be in danger, like, four days later.

Nico had indulged the woman, though, and at least entertained the thought. He'd done some research on public schools across the nation, preferably ones not too far from Camp Half-Blood, and ones that didn't need a whole lot of background information on the incoming students.

He didn't find much.

Sally Jackson had tried another tactic, telling Nico that her husband could definitely get him admitted to Percy's school without too many questions asked, but Nico had resisted her offer, since it was around that time that he'd been starting to figure out his feelings for the son of Poseidon, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to spend every single day with him.

But he'd taken the opportunity to ask Percy what he thought of school life as a demigod.

Percy had described school as "hard but necessary", "annoying but helpful", and "time-consuming but worth the time".

Nico disagreed with all three of those things.

The last time he'd gone to school had been fifth grade at Westover Hall. He'd spent three months playing Mythomagic instead of doing homework, and complaining to Bianca because he was pretty sure that Grover kid was following him and it was really creepy, and a bunch of other stuff that got him D's in pretty much every class, until he and his sister were attacked by the principal and whisked away into the world of the gods.

Goode High, in this crazy demigod-less alternate universe, was _nothing_ like Westover Hall.

Nico had six classes a day, one twice as long as the other five, and then the schedule rotated so that the super long class was a different one every day.

And Leo Valdez sat directly behind him in _every class_.

It was weird, seeing Leo everywhere, because he and Nico had been far from close in the real world. Pretty much Nico just sat in the crow's nest of the Argo II and indirectly helped steer the ship, then avoided him for the rest of the day, as he did everyone else.

Nico wasn't great at making friends.

But apparently Human Leo and Human Nico were _great_ friends. Or, at least, Leo thought so… They were sitting in English class, taught by a teacher who wasn't but reminded Nico of Mr. D, because he told the class to "read silently" and then spent the next forty-five minutes playing poker on his computer. Nico had actually been pretty excited, because his human self didn't have dyslexia (although he was pretty sure ADHD was still a thing), and the book he found in his backpack seemed interesting. But, unfortunately, he was barely able to start the book, because Leo kept poking him in the back with a pencil.

After Nico had attempted to ignore Leo for four and a half minutes, he spun around in his seat and snapped, "What do you want?"

Leo grinned at him, completely unfazed by his sharp tone. "How'd homeroom go?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. Homeroom had been boring and pointless, consisting of a never-ending lecture about how underage drinking was bad and how it had millions of life-threatening consequences, and it was also why the Stoll Brothers were suspended for a week (children of Hermes or not, those two never changed, it seemed); and it had been really awkward because Nico's homeroom teacher was Percy's not stepdad and he kept giving Nico scarily suspicious glances throughout his lecture.

"What about it?" he asked Leo.

Leo looked at him like it was obvious. "You were gonna ask Silena Beauregard to homecoming, remember?"

Nico was confused for a second, before he remembered that_ literally none of the dead people were dead._ "Isn't she dating Charlie Beckendorf?" he asked. He had never really known Silena and Beckendorf before they died in the war, but Percy had told him stories, and the couple passionately making out in the back during homeroom had definitely_ looked_ like a daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Hephaestus.

Leo shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"So isn't he gonna ask her to homecoming?" Nico understood physically nothing about school dances, considering he'd almost gotten killed at his last one, but he was pretty sure that was how it worked.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Probably, but he_ hasn't_ yet, meaning she's technically up for grabs. What made you chicken out?"

Nico sighed, physically exhausted by Leo's existence (this was why he stayed in the crow's nest), and turned around to face forward again. "Maybe I decided to ask someone else," he told Leo.

"Ooh! Who are you asking?" Leo demanded, poking him again so he'd turn back around.

Nico was getting seriously sick of Leo, so he said the first thing that came into his head. "_You_, Leo. Will you go to homecoming with me?"

He almost immediately froze as he realized what he'd said, and he started to take it back, but Leo had put his hand to his heart and was giving Nico a sarcastic look of gratitude.

"Nico. I'm so flattered," Leo teased. "However, as much as I would_ love_ to fulfill your gay fantasies, I'm already asking Thalia."

Nico frowned. "Why?"

"Why not?" Leo countered.

Nico sighed and shook his head, turning back around again.

And again, Leo poked him with the pencil.

"Why do you keep doing that?!" Nico demanded.

"Cause you keep ignoring me," Leo explained nonchalantly. "Besides, since when do you pay attention in English class?"

Nico glanced at their teacher, who hadn't stopped playing poker. "What is there to pay attention to?" he asked Leo.

"My point exactly," Leo said, smirking. "Now, listen. I have a plan. I'm thinking I'll come to your house tonight and convince Percy to get me on Thalia's good side, and then I can-"

"Okay, first of all, I'm pretty sure Thalia doesn't_ have_ a good side," Nico interrupted, "and second, you can't come to my house."

Leo frowned. "Why not? Does Percy have a date or something?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "No. I just don't want you in my house."

Leo chuckled. "God, man, love you too. No, but seriously, you spend more time with Thalia than I do. Does she have any weird fetishes I should know about?"

Nico rolled his eyes, grabbed Leo's pencil from his hand, and turned back around.

* * *

The next class Nico and Leo had was History, which Nico was immensely glad to learn they also shared with Hazel. As soon as Nico took his seat next to her, his sister (who probably wasn't actually his sister here, he realized) took his hand and gave him a serious look. "Hey, Nico, guess what. You need to stop calling me at three in the morning."

Nico chuckled and removed his hand from hers to pull out the History textbook from his bag. "Yeah, sorry about that. I had a weird night."

"You okay?" Hazel asked as she pulled out her own book.

Nico shrugged. "Yeah, I mean… just, you know, I couldn't really sleep."

Hazel nodded in understanding. "Well, next time that happens, talk to your roommate. Or, call your sister. Heck, call Leo. He's usually up at 3 am playing stupid video games."

"That's unfortunately true," Leo put in from behind them.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get your point. Don't worry, I'll leave you out of it."

Hazel grinned. "That's all I ask."

Class started soon after that, ending their conversation. They were learning about the World War II era, and Hazel knew the answer to pretty much every question (go figure) and was constantly raising her hand, Hermione Granger-style. Nico also knew the answers, since he'd been getting most of his memories back before he'd switched worlds, but he was still getting used to his surroundings, so he stayed quiet, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

The rest of the morning went by pretty uneventfully. Human Nico apparently took Italian as his mandatory second language class, and he had a pop quiz that he was pretty sure he passed half of (he spoke Italian fluently, but his spelling was awful since he never wrote stuff, _ever_). The teacher didn't seem to mind though since Nico agreed not to speak English in her class.

Needless to say, double math was torture.

Finally, it was time for lunch, so Nico (having officially decided that he hated school) followed Leo to the cafeteria, through the line of gross food, and to "their table," where Hazel was already waiting for them.

Nico was surprised he hadn't run into Frank yet, especially since he was spending so much time with Hazel, but he decided not to ask about him, just in case. He still didn't know everything about this world yet.

The three of them talked about homecoming some more (mostly Leo made plans for how to woo Thalia) and then ate in silence until lunch was over. Nico and Leo had two more classes- biology and art- both of which were boring and kind of hard.

After what felt like forever, the final bell rang, and Nico had (somewhat) successfully completed his first day of school in an alternate universe.

It wasn't the most comforting achievement he'd ever received, but it was better than nothing.

As Nico was packing up to leave, he realized something. He didn't know where his job _was_. He had the name of the place, but his human self hadn't bothered to leave an address, so he had no idea where he was going, much less if he could walk there.

Luckily for him, Leo could be kind of a miracle worker when he wasn't being extremely annoying.

"Hey, Neeks, can I come to the garage with you?" he asked, appearing out of nowhere at Nico's locker.

Nico scowled at him, hating the stupid nickname but knowing that he'd probably need Leo's help to get through the rest of today. "I guess so."

"Great!" Leo exclaimed, smirking. "Cause you know how I love to see you shirtless and covered in oil grease."

Nico slipped past him towards the school exit, still not sure whether Leo was joking or not, and hating it.

Leo soon followed and they walked together, Nico just slightly behind so that Leo could lead the way without it being obvious that Nico had no idea where he was going. Leo tried to talk to them the whole way there, but Nico really wasn't in the mood for conversation, especially with Leo. Mostly he responded with one-syllable answers, until Leo was left glancing at him in concern.

"Are you okay, Neeks?" he asked as they approached a building/gas station labeled "Seis's Garage." "Cause you're acting kinda weird today."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Leo. Just tired, I guess."

"Oh. Okay." Leo shrugged. "Want to come over tonight? I got the new Smash Brothers game."

"No thanks," Nico sighed. "I have to go to dinner with Percy's parents."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, but doesn't that usually take like twenty minutes before you make up some excuse to escape? I thought you were use 'Annabeth's Bachelorette Party' tonight."

"Why would I ever-" Nico began, then shook his head, thinking better of it. "Never mind. Sorry, Leo, I'm probably gonna be there a couple hours tonight."

Leo frowned, looking suspicious, which made Nico extremely uncomfortable. "Well, how about tomorrow night?" Valdez tried.

"No, sorry, Leo," Nico sighed. "I'm pretty busy this week. I have to find someone to ask to homecoming, remember?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "You know if you just took the stupid pilot's jacket off, girls would be all over you, remember?"

"What's wrong with the jacket?" Nico demanded.

Leo stared at him. "You're kidding, right?"

Nico sighed in exasperation. _Stupid confusing alternate universe!_ "Right. Never mind. Sorry, can we just go? I have work to do."

Leo didn't seem convinced, but nevertheless, he shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

* * *

Seis's Garage reminded Nico of every mechanic shop from every movie ever. It was filled wall to wall with junked-up cars of all shapes and sizes, with wires hanging from the ceiling and a large kitchenette by the far wall. Leo immediately started towards the food, while Nico hesitated by the door, having no idea what he was supposed to be doing.

"Is that you, Nico?" a semi-familiar voice called under one of the cars. Nico noticed a pair of legs clad in ripped blue jeans sticking out, and assumed that his boss (theoretically Seis) was on one of those scooter things to work on the underside of the car.

"Uh, yeah," he said, walking towards the car his boss was under. "Uh… Leo's here too."

"Of course he is," Seis sighed. "Tell him to stay out of my fridge."

"I can't make any promises, sir," Leo shouted from the kitchen, where he was already rifling through the refrigerator.

"Remind me why we keep him around?" Seis asked Nico as he wheeled himself out from under the car.

"I have no idea," Nico started to say, but his voice died in his throat as he saw the man he supposedly worked for.

Had Nico not gotten so used to seeing people's souls, there would be no way he'd have recognized the man. Seis was a forty-something-year-old man with reddish-blonde hair, a golden beard, cut lumberjack style, and stormy gray eyes, like Annabeth's. He was wearing a plaid flannel shirt open over his bare chest, and ripped blue jeans with oil-stained sneakers. Barely hidden by his shirt was a small tattoo of a bird on his neck, and when he sat, with his legs crossed in front of him, and leaning back on his hands, he twisted to keep the blemish out of sight.

But Nico had seen it. And it could've been a coincidence, but human or not, Nico _knew_ this man's soul, and there was no doubt about it.

It was Daedalus.

"You all right, kid?" the man asked, frowning in concern as Nico continued to stare at him as if he'd seen a ghost (which, in a way…)

"Y-yeah," Nico stammered, trying to pull himself together. _Gods, of all the people to have survived,_ he couldn't help thinking. "Sorry, I've had a… crazy day. If I start acting weird, just ignore me."

Daedalus nodded slowly, worry prominent in his Athena-gray eyes. "Okay. But if you start to feel sick or something, let me know, okay? I don't need Percy going all mother-hen on me again."

Nico nodded in agreement, pretty sure that he was blushing.

Daedalus winked at him, which really didn't help, then beckoned him forward. "Get under here, kid. I gotta show you something."

Nico tossed his bag into a chair and grabbed an extra scooter from under a desk, then carefully lay down on top of it (which was a_ lot_ harder than it looked) until he could successfully wheel himself backwards under the car.

As his boss showed him the frayed wire he was fiddling with** (A/N: I'd just like to point out here that I know _physically_ nothing about cars)**, Nico tried to pay attention, but all he could do was stare at the man he'd killed with his own sword, and marvel at the fact that he was still alive.

By the time Seis had finished explaining (and Nico seriously had to stop thinking of him as Daedalus or he was going to get really depressed), Nico had started flashbacking to the Battle of the Labyrinth, and hadn't heard a word the man had said.

"Hey," Seis said, nudging Nico to get his attention. Nico snapped out of his reverie to see his boss's gray eyes filled with fear and concern. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nico insisted, even as he blinked away tears.

Seis pointed to the wire he'd just fixed. "Think you can do this to that car over there?"

Nico's silence spoke volumes.

"Didn't think so," Seis laughed, starting to wheel himself out. "Gods, you are _distracted_ today."

Nico froze. Had he just said…? No. No, he must have heard wrong. This human world was physically driving him crazy.

Nico scooted out from under the car and followed Seis over to the kitchen where Leo was eating a bag of chips.

"Do they not feed you at your house?" Seis asked, taking a chip from the bag.

"They physically don't," Leo mumbled, his mouth full. "All the food I don't eat here, I steal from Percy."

Seis glanced questioningly at Nico. "What food does Percy have?"

Nico shrugged. "PopTarts."

"Yeah, have you noticed that s'mores PopTarts are, like, the only food Percy eats that aren't blue?" Leo asked. "That's not normal, right, it's not just me?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I learned a long time ago not to question the eating habits of Percy Jackson."

"Now that, right there, is an extremely valuable life lesson," Seis joked, taking another chip.

Leo scowled at him, pulling the bag closer to himself. "Shouldn't you guys be working or something?"

"We _were_," Seis said, mock-glaring at Nico. "But Mr. Daydreamer here was having some trouble paying attention."

"Sorry," Nico said sheepishly.

Again, Seis winked at him. "Ah, don't worry about it, kid. Homecoming's next week, I almost _expected_ you to be kind of out of it. Speaking of which, do ask out that chick yet?"

Okay, was Nico just straight in this universe? Because this whole homecoming thing was starting to become not okay.

"No, he chickened out," Leo explained, glaring at Nico. "Cause he was scared of her boyfriend."

"I never said I was scared of him," Nico contradicted.

Leo stared at him like was crazy. "Dude. Charlie Beckendorf holds every sports record not already held by Percy. You're _supposed_ to be scared of him."

Nico rolled his eyes. He was getting really sick of this universe.

"Speaking of which," Seis said, reaching behind Leo into the fridge. "Nico, Percy called earlier and said I should feed you, but I figured you'd want actual dinner and I was too lazy to cook, so-" He pulled two McDonald's Happy Meals out and handed one to Nico. "I got your favorite."

Nico couldn't help but chuckle as he took the meal. "Thanks."

"Ooh, did you get me one?" Leo asked excitedly, looking into the fridge.

Seis rolled his eyes. "It's sad how much time you spend here. You know that, right?" he asked as he gave Leo the other Happy Meal.

Leo grinned at him. "Yeah, I know, but you guys are fun, and free food, so I live with it."

Nico and Leo sat at a round table and ate for a few minutes while Seis went back to working on the cars. He'd handed them both slabs of wood and a screwdriver and told them to pull out the screws that were in the wood (for some reason) so they worked as they ate, mostly in silence, until Leo started talking.

"So, dude, what's up with you today?" Valdez asked. "You've been acting_ really_ weird."

Nico shrugged, not looking up from his screwdriver. "It's nothing, just a weird day. Don't worry about it."

Leo paused in his work to narrow his eyes suspiciously at Nico. "No, see it's not that. Cause I've seen you have weird days, and 'weird days' usually consist of you making out with cheerleaders and punching stuff. This is not a weird day. This is you acting like you have amnesia and have no idea what's going on in your life."

Nico froze and looked up at Leo in shock. Of all the people to figure it out… Leo Valdez? _Really?_

Nico had known from the start that he'd have to tell someone the truth. But he hadn't wanted it to be_ Leo._

"Okay, you're right," he admitted as he resumed working, deciding it was in his best interest for now. "Stuff's… happened. But it's kind of a long story, and I don't wanna tell it here."

"So give me the short version," Leo requested.

Nico paused to think about that. Finally he realized, "There is no short version."

"Hmmph," Leo muttered. "Fine. Then tomorrow, okay? We both have study hall first period- tell me everything then?'

Nico shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

Leo nodded in satisfaction and they both resumed their work in silence.

* * *

The next two hours went by quickly, since Seis didn't make him do anything, and before he knew it, Nico had gotten a text from Percy that read, _Outside._

He gathered up his backpack, said goodbye to Leo (who apparently was perfectly content with walking home) and was about to escape the garage when his boss pulled him aside for a quick word.

"Hey, you know you can talk to me, right?" Seis asked him. "If there's anything ever… going on?"

Nico nodded slowly. "Yeah… Of course."

"Good." Seis patted his shoulder. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. And we'll actually _work_. Deal?"

"Deal," Nico agreed, then got out of there as quickly as he could.

He found Percy waiting outside for him in what Nico recognized as Paul's car, which he figured Percy had inherited when he graduated from high school, and climbed into the front seat.

"How was work?" Percy asked as he pulled out of the lot.

Nico shrugged. "Good."

"Did you eat?"

Nico nodded.

"Was it McDonald's?"

He nodded again.

Percy glanced over at him. "You're quiet today," he observed.

Nico shrugged, figuring that if Human Nico wasn't quiet, there was nothing he could do about that. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Want me to just take you home?" Percy asked. "Mom and Dad would be cool with it."

Nico took a minute to think about that. He'd had to interact with a lot of people that he thought he knew today, and he kinda wanted to be done with it. Plus, he didn't think he could lie to Mrs. Jackson, ever.

"Yeah, I'd like that," he decided.

* * *

A few hours later, as Nico was doing his Italian homework, Percy stuck his head through the bedroom door. "Hey, Annabeth and I are gonna watch a movie. Wanna join us?"

"No thanks," Nico told him without looking up.

Percy lingered in the doorway for a moment, but eventually nodded. "Okay. Night, then."

Nico looked up and managed a tired smile at his cousin. "Goodnight."

* * *

**A/N: Wow, so that got long. Eight pages, that's new. It's also got a loooot of dialogue. And wow I really like Seis and it's weird cause I didn't like Quintus (I mean, I didn't _not_ like Quintus, but you know?) Also I wrote the majority of this chapter while listening to my Nico play list (which only consists of Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day and I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic at the Disco) on repeat. I hope you guys liked that chapter. I didn't really end up getting Annabeth into it, but I fulfilled all my other early morning predictions, so I think it counts. Also the reason I wrote so much there is cause I know how I want the next chapter to start so I had to end this at a specific point. Also I was gonna write the scene with Nico at dinner with Sally and Paul but then I was like "wait no I don't want to write Sally and Paul" so I just didn't.**

**Anyway, I'll probably update fairly soon cause I'm in love with this fic, but I won't make any promises because summer homework is murdering my existence (and yet I finally have inspiration- it's not okay). Little preview for the next chapter- Nico will tell Leo the truth and Leo will help him learn the trades of the universe (including the secret of the aviator's jacket mwa ha ha), more people will be concerned by Nico's OOCness, and Leo will have to try to teach Nico how to be himself, it'll be interesting. And so yeah. That should be fun. So please review and let me know what you thought of this, and I'll try to update soon :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ugh this chapter took way too long. But stuff gets explained, and we get some Leo POV, so at least there's something. The main reason I'm updating today is because I start school tomorrow, so I'm not sure how much writing time I'll have. I'll try to keep up with this fic, because I love it, but I just wanted to warn you guys in case I don't update for six months straight.**

**Here's the chapter, I hope you like it. Please review!**

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**Review replies:**

**AM83220: Thanks so much for the title suggestions! I think I'm gonna go with "False Death and True Life," has a little contradiction and such. But thanks so much for helping :D :D I'm glad you liked the Stoll Brothers in their non-existence. I'm not sure if they're gonna actually show up yet, but they might. As for Nico living in Percy's house, that gets explained in this chapter, so worry not :D And the aviator's jacket- those are really great guesses you made, though neither are correct. I have an idea for what I want the explanation to be, but I still have to work out some details before I put it in the fic. If you want to know my idea for it, let me know and I'll PM you. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Guest: I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Lizzyluvsmusic13: I don't mind you not leaving a name. It means extra reviews for me lol :D Thanks for reviewing (twice)!**

**tineyandkate: IKR ISN'T THAT SONG PERFECT FOR NICO? Sorry the confused person POV is confusing, I tried to make it less so in this chapter. I'm really glad you like it anyway. Thanks for reviewing!**

**countingmoons: Yeah… Leo's kinda bad at making friends with people who keep their memories lol. Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Smart Girl: I already talked to you, so… Thanks for reviewing!**

**cherriomax: Glad you like the fic! I think Frank will show up, eventually, but not in this chapter. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Wolfgirl13: Glad you like it. Thanks for reviewing!**

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**K story time. Enjoy :D :D :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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Chapter Three

That night, Nico had an _actual _nightmare.

* * *

"_Hey, Nico," Bianca said, meeting Nico at his locker as he packed up at the end of the day. "Can I talk to you outside?"_

"_Of course," Nico told his sister, shutting his locker. He followed her out of the school, where she pulled him into a side alley, hidden from the street. "What's up?" Nico asked._

_Instead of answering, Bianca grinned at him, her canine teeth elongating into fangs. Nico found himself frozen in place, unable to defend himself or even run away. Bianca grabbed his throat and held tight, choking him so that he couldn't breathe._

"_Stupid son of Hades," she hissed, her voice not her own, but somehow familiar to Nico. "You think a simple spell can keep you safe? No life is perfect, Nico. _Especially _not yours."_

_Nico tried to protest, to ask what she was talking about, who she even was. But the monster possessing his sister simply laughed- the sound sent chills through Nico's spine- and with a single motion, snapped Nico's neck._

* * *

Nico awoke with a start, gasping for breath. As he realized that he'd been dreaming, tears came to his eyes, and he shook with the effort of holding them back.

"Nico?"

He jumped as Percy put a hand on his arm, and suddenly couldn't keep himself from sobbing. "Hey," Percy said softly, pulling Nico into a hug. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Nico squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to calm down. It was just a dream. He was fine. Bianca was fine. No one was coming after him.

And, thinking back on it, Bianca's voice had been _Gaea's_. This realization produced a fresh set of tears, and Percy hesitantly started rubbing Nico's back.

"You're okay, it was just a dream," Percy murmured soothingly as Nico tried to pull himself together. "You're safe, Nico, I promise. Everything's gonna be okay."

Nico took a deep (albeit shaky) breath and nodded, causing Percy to release him, and then Nico wiped his eyes, refusing to meet his cousin's gaze.

"Are you alright now?" Percy asked.

Nico nodded. "Y-yeah, I think so. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I was already up," Percy assured him. "Annabeth just left."

Nico nodded again and sniffed.

"All right," Percy said. "Well I'm gonna go to bed now. You gonna be all right?"

"Yeah," Nico promised. "I'll be fine."

Less than six minutes later (because Percy fell asleep _really _quickly), Nico climbed out of bed (glad he'd decided to sleep in his jeans), grabbed his aviator's jacket, phone, and Percy's keys from the other nightstand, and slipped out of the apartment building into the night.

* * *

For an hour or two, Nico just paced back on forth on the street outside. It was May, and not very cold, so Nico was perfectly comfortable walking around and getting lost in his thoughts.

But when the flashbacks to Gaea's prison began, Nico figured he'd had enough, so he pulled out his phone and called the first contact he could think of.

"Hey, you must be psychic!" Leo said when he picked up. "I was literally just about to go to sleep."

Nico lowered his phone from his ear to check the time. "Leo, it's four in the morning."

"Yeah, I know, I was playing Skyrim."

Nico sighed. "Whatever. You know that thing I'm supposed to tell you tomorrow? I'm telling you now. There's a Starbucks down the street from my building; meet me there."

* * *

"So," Leo said once he and Nico were situated in the coffee shop, minus coffee (since neither of them drank it). "What up?"

For a minute or so, Nico just stared ahead, trying to compose his thoughts. He was still a little shaken from the nightmare (he wasn't used to having dreams that weren't guaranteed to come true), and was honestly starting to doubt telling Leo the truth after all. He barely knew Leo, really. Was he sure he could trust him?

It was then that Nico realized he was staring straight into Leo's eyes. Back home, the son of Hephaestus would be fidgeting, looking scared and uncomfortable, as most people do when met with Nico's gaze.

But here, Leo just looked concerned.

"I'm not who you think I am," Nico said before he could convince himself to do otherwise. "I'm not your best friend."

Leo frowned, hurt flashing in his eyes. "I'm gonna let you explain yourself before I react to that," he decided.

Nico nodded. "Probably a good idea, thanks. Okay, so… your best friend… I mean, the me that you- Gods, this is hard."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Gods?"

"Right, yeah!" Nico exclaimed. "Perfect, we'll start there. Have I ever talked to you about Mythomagic?"

"Yeah, like all the time."

"Okay, good." Nico took a deep breath. "It's all real."

Leo looked confused. "Come again?"

"The Greek gods," Nico elaborated. "And Roman, and possibly Egyptian, but I'm still working on that theory. Anyway, the gods are all real. Hades, the god of the dead, is my father."

Leo stared at Nico like he was crazy, but apparently not crazy enough for him to leave yet, which Nico took as a good sign. "I thought your dad left when you were a kid."

Nico sighed. "No, see, he did. _Here. _But where _I'm _from, which is like a whole… different _universe_, my dad's a god."

Leo nodded slowly. "Okay… So, what you're saying is… you dimension-hopped?"

Nico shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

"And the Nico that I know," Leo continued, "he's real. But you just… replaced him?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Nico confirmed.

"Okay…" Leo crossed his arms. "Let's pretend, for a moment, that I believe this. Who am I in your universe?"

"You're a son of Hephaestus," Nico told him.

Leo frowned. "The fire guy?" Nico nodded. "Makes sense."

"Yeah," Nico agreed. "Anyway, so yeah, your dad's Hephaestus, you're the head counselor of your cabin at Camp Half-Blood, which is like a safe haven for demigods, like us. You also built a giant flying ship and fixed a haywire metal dragon, not to mention-"

"Okay, wait, wait, pause," Leo interrupted. Nico gave him a questioning look. "This is insane. I'm too tired for this," Leo told him. "Gimme a sec."

As Nico watched, Leo went up to the barista and asked a question, then came back to the table with two plastic soda bottles. He put one in front of Nico and opened the other, taking a long sip before realizing that Nico was staring at him.

"You still like Diet Coke, right?" Leo asked.

Nico studied the bottle with a look of mild disgust. "I mean, I don't _not _like it…"

Leo shrugged. "Okay, whatever, continue your crazy story. Actually, no, wait, question- if you're from an alternate universe, how did you _get _here?"

Nico explained to Leo his acquaintance with the goddess of youth, and Hebe's plan to make him human. Once he finished, Leo gave him a look like he thought Nico was crazy but didn't have the effort to not believe him.

"Anyway," Nico concluded. "I wasn't gonna tell you everything, at first, because I knew you'd think I was crazy… But, basically, there's a lot going on in this universe that I can't understand without looking like an amnesiac, so I need your help staying consistent with everything."  
Leo took another sip of soda, flipping the cap over and over in his hand. Finally, he nodded. "All right. What do you need to know?"

* * *

"You were born in Venice," Leo narrated as he and Nico walked through the park across the street. "But you moved to Nevada when you were really young and lived in this super cool hotel- I don't think you remember it much, but Bianca likes telling stories about it. When you were four or five, I think, your dad walked out on your mom, never to be seen again. Then a couple years later, she died in a car crash- something to do with lightning, I think- and you and Bianca began the exciting journey of wonder that is foster care."

Leo paused to glance over at Nico, who was uncharacteristically silent next to him. The Nico that he knew never _ever _talked about his mother, and got really uncomfortable and upset whenever the topic was brought up, so he wanted to make sure this Nico was okay with hearing it. For all Leo knew, Nico _had _a mother in his universe, and was hearing the news of her death for the first time.

But Nico didn't look sad, just somber, so Leo continued.

"Soon after your mom died, in third grade or so, you and I met, when we were in a foster home together, upstate. We became best friends, you taught me Mythomagic, I told you what stuff you could get away with setting fire to, you know, normal friend stuff." Nico gave Leo a confused look. "Not… actually normal friend stuff," Leo clarified. "I was being sarcastic."

Nico nodded slowly, then gestured for him to continue.

Leo went on to tell Nico about the few years he spent in a military boarding school in Maine (Nico glared at the mention of Westover Hall, and explained that he'd gone to that school in his universe and hadn't had a very good experience). He explained about the school's creepy rich principal, Dr. Thorne, who liked to scare off potential adopting parents by telling horrifying lies about the kids ("I'm pretty sure he said Bianca was a pathological liar and you had an imaginary friend who was an evil king named Minos… Wait… Did you _actually_…?") He told about the time when Nico was twelve or so and Sally Jackson came to Westover with her fiance and sixteen-year-old son, hoping to adopt a young child, and left with Nico and Bianca instead.

"Okay, wait," Nico stopped him then. "Sally and Paul adopted us?" Leo nodded. "So… Percy's my brother?"

"Only technically," Leo said. "Where it matters, you're only close friends."

"Okay," Nico continued. "And why do I live with Percy, if I belong to his parents?"

"Six months or so ago," Leo explained, "Percy was about to go to college, Paul had just gotten a new job, and Sally was working on her third book, so Percy realized his parents didn't want to deal with two teenagers if they didn't have to, so- since he was going to NYU and had an apartment not too far from Goode- he offered to have you move in with him."

"And what about Bianca?" Nico asked.

"Annabeth did the same with her, since she's at Columbia."

Nico nodded. "Okay. I guess that makes sense… Keep going."

"So, once you moved to the city with Sally and Paul, we reunited in middle school- it was great, we played video games in my basement for like four hours straight, it was awesome."

"Do you still live in foster care?" Nico asked.

"Nah, turns out my grandpa's still alive," Leo explained. "They just didn't know about him when I was a kid cause he was MIA from World War II or something."

Nico chuckled. "Let me guess. His name is Sammy?"

Leo frowned. "Yeah, you know him?"

Nico shrugged. "Not really."

"Well, anyway," Leo continued. "He's kinda senile, doesn't talk much. Hazel's mom is actually his nurse, so she's over a lot."

"Wait, Hazel's mom, the crazy voodoo lady?" Nico asked.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Voodoo? No way, man, Miss Marie's like the opposite. She thinks half the stuff that touches the earth is cursed. She won't even let Hazel eat tomatoes."

Nico frowned. "Tomatoes don't grow underground."

Leo waved a hand impatiently. "Eh, whatever, something like that."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever. Is that all you have to tell me? It sounds like a pretty complete life."

Leo started to say more, but thought better of it. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. If you ever have questions, you can always ask me."

Nico nodded. "All right. Thanks, Leo. For helping me out. And for believing my crazy story. Not to mention meeting me at four in the morning."

Leo grinned. "No prob. But it sounded like your alternate universe life was pretty cool. I think it's your turn to tell stories."

Nico yawned. "Not now, Leo, I'm tired. You said we had study hall tomorrow, right? I'll tell you then."

Leo nodded. "All right. See you later, then."

Nico made his way back to Percy's apartment, using his keys to get into the building, and returned to the bedroom he shared with his cousin/friend/adopted brother.

As he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, he tried to decide whether this world was really better than the real one.

Honestly, he had no idea.

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**A/N: There's that. I hope you liked it. Again, I'll try to update soon, but I can't make any promises. School is stupid sometimes. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. School's been **_**insane **_**this past month or so, and I've barely had time to write (not counting the hour after I read Blood of Olympus, when I **_**immediately **_**wrote a fic), plus this chapter was being difficult cause I really wanted to make a big reveal but I couldn't figure out the freaking timeline!**

**But I figured it out, and managed to finish this chapter, so yay. **

**BY THE WAY, IMPORTANT NOTE. THIS SERIES IS OFFICIALLY AU BECAUSE BOO DECIDED TO BE BEAUTIFUL, BUT THERE WILL BE NO BOO SPOILERS. But, like, read the book, cause it's amazing.**

**Anyway, I won't keep you long, cause I know you all want to go read the chapter, and then leave a lengthy review (*innocent grin*) so I'll reply to reviews, and then we can get started.**

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**burningmoonlight: I'm so glad you like it :D I know, Valdangelo friendship is just my **_**life. **_**Thanks for reviewing!**

**SevenPlaysSoftball: School just… I can't sometimes. Glad you agree. So happy you like the fic. Please review!**

**rainbowchameleon: I'm so glad you like it :D And that you think Nico's in character, that really means a lot, lol. And Nico will eventually (probably in the next chapter) tell Leo the whole story, but I probably won't write it all out. Too many books. Thanks for reviewing!**

**ink2parchment: Cool penname :D Thanks for favoriting and reviewing! I'm so glad you like it :D**

**Thirteen: So glad you like it :D Thanks for reviewing!**

**TheMidnightPoet: Not ditching, don't worry! I would never give up this story, I love it too much :D Thanks for reviewing!**

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**Chapter time! (*evil grin*) Enjoy. And please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

Chapter Four

When Percy's alarm went off the next morning, Nico was already awake, dressed, and making blueberry pancakes in the kitchen.

Percy stuck his head through the door (wearing his glasses, not wearing a shirt- Nico was starting to get used to it) and raised an eyebrow. "Hi. You're awake."

Nico looked up from the stove. "Huh? Yeah. I made blue pancakes."

Percy nodded slowly. "Cool. Thanks. Gimme a sec."

Percy disappeared back into the bedroom to get dressed, and Nico rolled his eyes and turned back to his griddle.

Ten minutes later, Nico and Percy sat at the kitchen table eating pancakes. Nico wasn't a huge fan of blue-colored breakfast foods, but he managed to eat enough so that he wouldn't be hungry during the day, and tried his hardest not to freak out by how Percy was staring at him.

"Can I help you?" he finally asked after a minute.

Percy started, as if he hadn't realized what he'd been doing. "Uh, no, sorry." Embarrassedly, he started eating his pancakes. "Hey, but, uh… where did you learn to cook?"

"Italy," Nico said without thinking, then silently cursed himself. "Um, I mean, Italian class."

Percy raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Your Italian teacher taught you how to make pancakes?"

Nico nodded, hoping his face wasn't red. Percy stared at him for another moment or so, then shrugged. "Okay. They're really good."

"Thanks," Nico said, fighting the urge to give a sigh of relief. He started clearing up his plate. "Anyway, I'm gonna get ready to go. Bianca should be here soon."

He stood from the table and brought his dish over to the sink, rinsing it thoroughly.

"You coming to dinner tonight?" Percy asked him, his voice muffled by the food in his mouth.

Nico glanced back at him. "Depends. Seis might keep me late tonight, since I was kind of unhelpful yesterday."

"Understandable," Percy said. "Just text me if you need a ride, okay?"

Nico nodded. Then, after drying his hands on a towel, he went back into the bedroom to grab his stuff.

His conversation with Leo that morning had left him thinking, about a lot of things. There was obviously still a lot he didn't know about this universe, but with Leo's help, he was pretty sure he could figure it out. As long as he took it one day at a time.

Nico slung his backpack over his shoulder and lingered in the bedroom doorway as he checked his phone. He had an alert reminding him to check his calendar, three texts from Leo, one from Bianca, and an email from Seis.

According to his calendar, Nico had double Italian, something he could easily deal with, a History quiz on European 1940s family life (piece of cake), and something that his human self described as "Counseling" during lunch.

Nico wasn't sure he wanted to know what that was.

The email from Seis was a 400-page car manual "in case Nico had forgotten some things". It sent a suspicious chill down Nico's spine that Seis would treat him like the confused amnesiac he was, but he was grateful for the helpful (if not unbearably long) cheat-sheet.

Next, he looked through his texts. Bianca had simply sent one word: _7 _(Nico assumed that was the time she was gonna pick him up; it was currently 6:43 so he was fine). Leo's messages were a little more complicated.

_Nico, I just remembered something._

_It's Wednesday, isn't it? You have counseling today, right?_

_Nico, call me. This is something I need to explain._

Nico tried not to freak out as he dialed Leo's number, but his heart was pounding in his chest. What was counseling? What was so bad about it? Why hadn't Leo mentioned it before, and why was it so important that he did now?!

Leo picked up on the first ring.

"Where have you been? I texted you like eight and a half minutes ago!"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Calm down, Valdez, I was making pancakes."

"You can make pancakes?" Leo asked, momentarily distracted. "Are they good? I want some!"

"You had something to explain to me?" Nico reminded him.

"Oh, yeah, right! Are you friends with RaRa in your universe?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Ra… Ra?" he repeated slowly.

"Yeah," Leo confirmed. "Puerto Rican, kinda scary, likes horses?"

Nico frowned. "You mean Reyna?"

"Yeah, that's her! We call her RaRa," Leo explained.

"Do I… _want _to know why?"

He could practically hear Leo roll his eyes. "It's her initials, genius."

Nico nodded. "Ah. Anyway, what about her?"

"So, she was friends with Bianca's friend's brother," Leo began.

"Jason," Nico guessed.

"Right, and Jason and Reyna both went to camp with Hazel, and Jason bailed me out of jail once, anyway, not important, we're all friends is the point. But so after last year, you and Reyna got really close- so close that Percy thought you had a crush on her, which, obviously, you didn't, and then-"

"Wait," Nico interrupted. "Why was it obvious that I didn't like Reyna?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

Leo hesitated, his silence terrifying. "That's… not really important to this conversation…"

Nico nodded slowly. "But… you'll tell me later?"

After another pause, "If you want me to. But I honestly don't think you do."

For a few minutes, they were both silent, as Nico ran through possibilities in his head, but he kept coming back to _Boys. Percy. Cupid. _

_That can't be it, _he forced himself to think. _If I liked Percy in this universe, and he knew it, he would've shut me out by now._

"Anyway, so, counseling?" Nico asked, shoving his thoughts aside.

"Right," Leo said, sounding relieved. "Anyway, so basically, something happened last year and you were kinda… depressed for awhile…. I'd even go so far as to say suicidal."

Nico shifted uncomfortably.

"Unfortunately, you were kinda really good at hiding it, so RaRa and I were the only two who really knew what was going on. So, now, she trusts me to keep an eye on you, and every Wednesday you have lunch with her and her friends, and she makes sure you're doing all right."

Nico was scared to know, but he asked, "What happened last year?"

"That's… part of the unimportant conversation we don't need to have," Leo told him, sounding nervous.

Nico lowered the phone from his ear to check the time. _6:58. _"Leo, I gotta go. I'll see you at school, okay?"

He hung up before Leo could respond.

* * *

Nico loved his sister, but she drove like a maniac.

He hadn't noticed it the day before because he'd been busy freaking out over the fact that he was human and his sister was alive, but riding in a car with Bianca was like riding a dying pegasus through a broken washing machine.

First of all, she drove one-handedly, her other hand usually holding a coffee cup of some kind (today it was a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks). She also played her music way too loud so she couldn't hear the other drivers honking at her when she ran red lights.

Of course the consequence for Nico's sister being alive was that she was practically suicidal.

He couldn't completely blame her, though. Her car kinda sucked too. The brake didn't work, so Bianca had to drive simply by moving her foot on and off of the gas pedal. It resulted in a lot of almost-crashes, but they made it to school more-or-less intact.

"You need a new car," Nico announced, gripping his seat like a life-line.

Bianca raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her coffee. "Yeah, no kidding. You want to buy me one?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Never mind, then. Keep your crappy car."

Bianca smirked in triumph. "What do you got going on today?"

"Normal stuff," Nico replied. "School. Work. Whatever stupid thing Leo decides to drag me to during my break."

Bianca nodded. "Yeah, Leo does tend to drag you to some pretty stupid stuff. You coming to Sally's tonight?"

Nico shrugged. "Not sure. Are you gonna be there?"

Bianca thoughtfully sipped her coffee. "I'm thinking about it. Annabeth and Thalia are going out tonight, so the house will be empty anyway."

Nico nodded. "I'll try to make it if you're there."

Bianca grinned at him. "Okay. I'll see what I can do, then."

As Nico sat in the passenger seat of his sister's car, watching her smile at him, he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

She was older. She was different. But she was _Bianca._

Before he could stop himself, Nico leaned forward and kissed Bianca on the cheek, like he used to do to Hazel. Then he grabbed his backpack and hurried out of the car.

* * *

"Am I gay in this universe?" Nico asked, confronting Leo as soon as he reached his locker.

Leo yelped in surprise, jumping backwards and slamming hard into the lockers. He stared at Nico like he was crazy. "What the _hell _kinda question is that?!"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Is that a no?"

Leo hesitated, taking time to catch his breath and pull his books out of his locker. "No... It's not a no," he said, sounding uncomfortable with the topic. "I just didn't expect you to be so forward about it."

Nico frowned. "What did you expect?"

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd ask," Leo admitted, shutting his locker with a snap. "That's kind of part of that conversation we don't need to be having."

Nico crossed his arms. "Well, I'm starting to think we _should _have it. What's so bad about this universe that you can't tell me?"

"Nothing," Leo assured him, even as he avoided Nico's gaze. "It's just... Look, all I know is that _my _Nico would give the world to forget something that happened to him. I'm giving you that chance."

Leo slipped past before Nico could respond, and disappeared down the hallway. Nico stared after home, feeling slightly guilty. "Well then."

* * *

The thing was that Nico understood how it felt to want so badly to forget something that you'd kill for it. He would give anything to forget the night his sister died.

But on the other hand, he also knew what it was like to know something was missing and be unable to remember what it was.

He _hated _that feeling. And he wasn't going to go through it again.

* * *

Nico found Leo outside the school, leaning against the brick wall with a lighter and a cigarette. Nico raised an eyebrow. "You smoke?"

"No," Leo said without looking up. He lit the cigarette and then threw it onto the asphalt. "I like watching it burn."

"Why am I not surprised?" Nico muttered under his breath, then stepped forward to stop the cigarette with his boot. "Look, Leo, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings."

Leo glared at him, flicking his lighter menacingly.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Can we just talk, please? We don't have class till second period, right? Let me at least explain myself."

Leo stared at him for a moment, flicking his lighter open and closed. Finally, he sighed and buried it in his pocket. "Fine. Go ahead."

Nico nodded and, taking a deep breath, leaned against the wall next to Leo. He tried to take moment to compose his thoughts, but ended up talking without having to think about it.

"When I was ten years old, my sister died."

Leo glanced at him in surprise. "Seriously?"

Nico nodded. "You see, demigods have these... These quests... And my sister was on one, with Percy and Thalia and a few others... She didn't make it home."

Leo, for once, was silent, staring pitifully at Nico. He took it as a cue to continue.

"I was young, and stupid, back then, and I reacted to Bianca's death a lot more dramatically than I probably should have… Even when Percy tried to help, I…" He shook his head. "Anyway, the point is, I know what it's like to want to forget something, so badly that you'd kill for it. But I know… that is, I _believe, _that if I couldn't remember the night my sister died, I'd just miss her more… Because she died, for me…"

Nico was honestly surprised that his voice had remained steady throughout that mini-speech, but he could feel unshed tears in his eyes. He blinked to clear them, then turned to Leo. "So, look. I don't want to miss things more than I have to, okay? And I don't think your Nico would want to either. So, just… can you tell me whatever it is he wanted to forget?"

Leo stared at him for another minute or so, then slowly nodded.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'll tell you… I just don't think you're gonna like it."

Nico shrugged. "Then I guess that's something I'll have to live with."

* * *

Leo led Nico around the back of the school, to a small gazebo outside the gates of the tennis court. They sat down inside the shack, their phones out to keep track of time, and when Nico gave Leo an expectant look, he started to explain.

"Around the time Ms. Jackson adopted you and Bianca," he began, nervously playing with a piece of metal as he talked, "Percy and Annabeth were really good friends with this one guy in the grade above them. "They were juniors while he was a senior, but Annabeth had a couple classes with him cause she's a freaking genius, and he was on the swim team with Percy." Leo swallowed and looked up to meet Nico's gaze. "You had a huge crush on him, from the beginning, and everybody knew it."

Nico nodded. That answered that question.

"And, I mean, I wouldn't go so far as to say you're _gay,_" Leo continued, "cause, as far as I know, you've liked girls in the past, not that we've ever really talked about it, but… Anyway, this guy was… popular, and handsome, and he treated you like the little brother he never had, so it might have honestly just been infatuation, but whenever you talked about him… it sounded like love."

Nico frowned. Was Leo _sure _he wasn't talking about Percy? Cause that's what this sounded like.

"He even gave you that jacket," Leo said, nodding at Nico's aviator's jacket. "It was his grandpa's or something, but it didn't fit him, so he gave it to you, the winter you first moved here, cause Ms. Jackson was rushing around buying stuff for you and your sister, and it was freaking cold that year… Anyway, I don't think you've taken that thing off since… It's like your security blanket, or your… _symbol _that you're still over this guy… Honestly, if you ever stopped wearing it, it'd be like a red flag screaming that you're available."

"You said girls would be all over me if I took the jacket off," Nico remembered.

Leo nodded. "That thing is just a warning to any guy or girl ever that you are _taken. _And, I mean, you kinda are. There's a reason you always wear it… I think… I think _you _think that if you gave yourself up like that… you'd be letting him go…"

Nico hesitated to ask his next question, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. "What happened to him?"

Leo sighed. "Killed himself, last year… He'd just been diagnosed with schizophrenia… and honestly I think the voices in his head were just too much for him… You were in a pretty bad shape after that."

Nico frowned at Leo, running the other boy's words through his head. Something about this mysterious ex-boyfriend of his was starting to sound too familiar. This wasn't like Percy anymore. It was more like…

"Leo," he whispered. "What was his name?"

Leo swallowed nervously, clenched his fist around the piece of metal he was holding, and stared into Nico's eyes for at least a minute and a half before finally giving an answer.

"Luke. His name was Luke Castellan."

* * *

**A/N: So… I'm still not sure how I feel about this plottwist… Let me know what you think.**


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